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September Issue
2008
Somerhill Gallery in Durham, NC, Features
Works by Norbert Irvine
Somerhill
Gallery, newly relocated to The Venable Center, in Durham, NC,
is presenting a solo exhibition of recent works by Norbert Irvine,
on view through Sept. 19, 2008.
A resident of Asheville, NC, Irvine exhibits his distinctive work of collage and various paints on paper and canvas. Known for years as a printmaker and serigrapher of brightly patterned graphic aesthetics, Irvine has become engrossed in works of art with elaborate surface treatments. Beginning with thin transparent layers of color, Irvine builds up his pieces with brilliant, saturated hues and glittering materials such as sequins, holographic paper, prismatic dots, and squeezed out paint as he continues applying and adding media to the surface of his work. His result is a very tactile painting, brightly colored and sparkling with iridescent luster. Irvine seeks brilliance and reflectivity, and his paintings achieve both as he creates pieces that present the viewer with a mosaic of glittering texture.
Irvine states that: "The past 18 years I have worked with prismatic papers, glitter, acrylic, interference colors, permanent inks, fabric paints and materials on paper and canvas that give me the luster and brilliance which I seek." He has also said that his goal is - to paint like a child with no inhibitions. "At times, I feel like a frustrated cake decorator."
Gallery Director Joseph Rowand recently commented on his perception of Norbert Irvine, and said that: "I would say he is the 'Mad' King Ludwig of the paint tube." Rowand is referencing Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Bavaria, who was know for his extravagant fantasy castles. Questions of King Ludwig's madness still remain controversial.
Irvine studied at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, and earned an MA at Claremont Graduate School in California. He took a subsequent MFA at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He has a long history of service to the scholastic arts in North Carolina, including terms as president of the North Carolina Arts Education Association, and as a professor at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, NC. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues across the country, including the Corcoran in Washington, the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, and the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, NC.
Pieces by Irvine are included in over 4,000 private collections including those of the Johns Hopkins Center for International Study in Washington, DC, Westinghouse Corporation of America in New York, Duke University Hospital in North Carolina, and many others.
For further information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call 919/968-8868 or visit (www.somerhill.com).
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